Produce awards
The winners of the 2017 delicious. Produce Awards Alla Wolf-Tasker scholarship set off on a journey of self-improvement.
Taking cheese to the next level.
ON THEIR FARM in Robertson in NSW’s lush Southern Highlands, Pecora Dairy’s Cressida and Michael McNamara are making some of Australia’s best cheeses. In fact, so highly regarded was their ewes’ milk cheese at last year’s delicious. Produce Awards, it saw them win our inaugural Alla Wolf-Tasker Good Food Matters Scholarship. In June, the couple used the $5000 prize to head to the world-renowned Academie Mons outside Lyon in France to learn the centuries-old art and science of affinage, or maturing cheese gracefully to create a distinct and unique flavour profile. “The Academie Mons is considered one of the world’s best affineurs,” says Michael. “They’re the masters of looking after cheese. The reason why this is important is because half the work is done before cheesemaking, and the other half of what makes a cheese the way it tastes is what happens afterwards.”
With Pecora Dairy recently winning approval to make Australia’s first raw milk cheeses that will be produced without undergoing any heat treatment at all, the opportunity to travel to France could not have come at a better time.
“We really are breaking new ground,” says Cressida. “Cheesemaking is such a complex science, and we’re always looking to improve and learn.”
Adds Michael: “We think we’re most of the way there, but… Mons have been doing it for many generations, so there’s centuries of knowledge. We’re used to, in Australia, talking about decades of knowledge.”
Michael explains that cheese is one of the only products where the end result allows you to taste the entire farming system. At the macro level, that can mean the season and the pastures and what the sheep are eating. It’s at the micro level that affinage comes in. “Micro flora really start to impart their influence on a cheese, not only in the cultures in the milk but also what’s floating around in the air, because basically a forest of biological activity happens on the rind of the cheese and it contributes significantly to the flavour,” says Michael. “Because everything happens on the farm here, it’s vitally important that if we’re going to enhance that sense of provenance, the micro flora really start to impart their influence on a cheese.”
“We’re trying to make sure that we’re developing a terroir,” adds Cressida, “and make sure that terroir is expressed in a cheese that looks beautiful and tastes delicious.”
With the knowledge imparted by their time at Academie Mons, the couple say their desire is only to get better, rather
than bigger. “We really are quite determined to be totally hands-on with every process,” says Cressida. “We want to make a small range of cheeses and be absolute experts in our field, and hopefully really make a contribution to benchmark cheeses in the Australian industry.
“We’re most grateful to Alla for her generosity and her far-sightedness to invest in the best of Australian produce. It’s an incredibly worthwhile project. We are always interested in the pursuit of knowledge and furthering our craft; this opportunity has been made easier with her contribution.”
As far as Alla is concerned, “Pecora ticked so many boxes in what I see as the potential future for ‘Good Food’ businesses to lead the way in terms of sustainability and innovation”.
The Lake House owner and executive chef believes food provenance is no longer a ‘fringe’ curiosity or interest – that it “has become an important focus for Australians from all walks of life” – and hopes that her scholarship with delicious. will result in more education for consumers and a better understanding of what good food is.
And for Pecora, Alla says: “Cressida and Michael’s desire to continue to grow their knowledge in the complicated arena of affinage, and their propensity to educate and share knowledge, should have considerable implications not only for them, but also for the wider industry. I have no doubt that their newly gained expertise will result in continued excellence in the cheeses they produce, especially in the area of raw milk cheese production.”
As for what to expect from this year’s delicious. Produce Awards scholarship, Alla says she’s “yet again been blown away with the applications”.
“THE ACADEMIE MONS IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST AFFINEURS. THEY’RE THE MASTERS OF LOOKING AFTER CHEESE.”